Talanoa Mada: Stories to Tell

Dakuwaqa, a shark god, travelled across the channel to conquer
Kadavu, when another god challenged him in the form of an octopus
named Roko-Bakaneceva. These were the kind of stories that a
group of selected youths shared, modified and performed in the
Talanoa Mada workshop. The workshop focused on accessing and
analyzing those ancient myths that we often here about every time
we go the village or learn about in primary school. The workshop
attracted a lot of attention, especially from the youth sector,
and close to 30 youths from different ethnic, religious
backgrounds & interests groups; participated in the five day
event, that was held at the Jovili Meo Conference Hall at the
Pacific Theological College, Nasese, Fiji Islands.

The workshop gave a fresh voice to the concerns of youths that
participated and made their voices easier to be heard by their
elders by using the myths & legends which often details the
culture & traditions of Fiji.

Throughout the duration of the workshop, youth identified issues
that they perceived as high importance to the development of Fiji
as a country. These issues were then grouped under two themes:
“Justice” & “Unity.” These two themes were then
used as the themes of their plays. The participants had to
reflect their issues as a myth they felt has a strong sense of
justice or unity and put a modern twist to the
mythological storyline. These plays were then presented to
international & local organizations and members of the
public. There was also an audience feedback session with the
actors.

As a positive outcome of the workshop, the youth themselves have
decided to form a youth group that solely looks at creative
advocacy that would organize theatre productions around Fiji.

Lemaki Makisiale, a participant stated that he felt lucky to be
part of the Talanoa Mada group. Janice Chan stated “I've had the
most incredible week and met such amazing people. Thank you all
for such a memorable week and thank you Henry for bringing us
together. I've really learnt a lot and have a new found respect
for all.”

Talanoa Mada:Stories to tell workshop was an
initiative by the Henry Allen North Shore Folklore Theatre
Company that is based in Gloucester Massachusetts, United States
in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program
Pacific Centre and the Citizen Constitutional Forum and
financially supported by the European Union. It was a five day
intensive theatre training facilitated by master folklorist &
theatre artist Henry Allen.